"He will join up with us next month, when the full squad reports to Loughborough ahead of the tournament starting."

McNamara will announce his 24-man squad on Monday, October 10, but South Sydney prop Sam Burgess has been ruled out with a shoulder injury.

Meanwhile, former St Helens forward John Stankevitch will oversee Russia's bid to reach the 2013 World Cup.

The 31-year-old Stankevitch, who has Lithuanian heritage, will link up with the Russians in Moscow early next month, initially as assistant to former Wigan number two Stuart Wilkinson before taking charge for the final two qualifying games.

Wilkinson is stepping down after the game against Italy in Padova on October 15, leaving Stankevitch in charge of the clash with Lebanon in Moscow a week later and the away game against Serbia in Belgrade on October 29.

The winners of the qualifying tournament will go into Group C of the main draw alongside Scotland and Tonga.

"I'm aware that Russian Rugby League has a long history and also a massive amount of potential and they are something of a sleeping giant," said Stankevitch.

"Becoming involved in an international team again has been a major goal of mine for some time now and being part of the RFL's coach mentor programme has meant that I can be put forward for exciting roles such as this."

Russia took part in the 1995 Emerging Nations Cup before being promoted to the World Cup in 2000 when they were placed in the same group as England and Australia.

"Stuart has brought me up to date with regards to the details of the squad and I am more than confident that we'll be lining up against Scotland and Tonga in two years' time," added Stankevitch.

Stankevitch, whose playing career was cut short by injury in 2003, is coach of Championship 1 side Rochdale, who take on Keighley on Sunday for a place in the promotion play-off final.